Tarte aux Framboises, Verbier

Mr and Mrs M are off for a week end to the marvellous Verbier. One of their best friend has a beautiful chalet up in the mountain and this time they got the chance to be invited at his place together with other friends from Milano. Between them, there is Mauryn. She is a very nice Italian-American-Cuban girl …but this will be part of another post! 😉

Since the very beginning it looks like they cannot make it: terrific traffic jam to go to the airport – lost boarding card – went to the wrong terminal – never ending queue at the metal detector…all right, maybe too much posting on Facebook?!! (Someone must not be happy about us going skiing). Eventually, they made it. It’s been a while now since they last went there, the landscape is always the same and it feels like home. Mr and Mrs M rented their first flat together in Verbier, something like 10 years ago..it was a seasonal letting, back when they used to live in Milano. Every time they go back there they recall their romantic getaways <3. Verbier was kind of an exotic location to go skiing from Milano. Après Ski at Pub Mont Fort, bartenders from OZ, plenty of foreigners, laid back snowboarders and stylish skier… It was so trendy!!

Now, you feel like having breakfast in King’s Road. London.

Anyhow, after a fantastic and incredibly sunny day, skiing up and down the slopes like there’s no tomorrow, après ski at Farinet this time…more of a grown-ups thing! Some drinks and then back home for a typical swiss-style dinner: raclette, viande séchée, gherkins and tons of new potatoes. We drank fantastic wines ordered directly through our good friend Tullio, from Montalcino – two Brunello di Montalcino ‘Le Chiuse Riserva 2006’ and ‘Mate’ 2007’ and two Super Tuscans ‘Poggio al Tesoro Dedicato a Walter 2005’ and ‘Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2009’. Finally, we talk about serious food and we have one of the best dessert on the planet: tarte aux framboises!

Raspberries Tart

Ingredients

300 gr Puff Pastry – for recipe and method see Basics

Egg Wash

2 eggs

2 gr salt

2 gr sugar

5 ml water

Chantilly and Mascarpone Cream

50 ml Whipping Cream

50 gr Caster Sugar

200 gr Mascarpone

Garnish

250 gr Raspberries

100 gr Apricot Nappage

50 gr Icing sugar for dusting, if wanted

Method

Turn your oven on at 200°.

Once you have your puff pastry ready for use, either you made it yourself or you bought one already made, roll out the dough into a large rectangle (around 3mm thick).

Wrap it in plastic and transfer it to the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 10 minutes.

Cut the dough to have a base of around 30cm long and 15cm wide and 4 strips (2 strips 30cm long and 3cm wide + 2 strips 3cm wide for the top sides of your rectangle).

Chill everything for another 5/10 minutes.

In the meanwhile prepare your egg wash, mixing all the ingredients together.

Dot the base.

Brush the surface of your base with the eggwash.

Brush the strips on both sides and lay them over the base, to have a base with 4 edges.

Apply the edges a bit over the base.

Chill everything and brush with eggwash again.

Lay the base with edges on the baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Then cool on a wire rack.

Filling Cream:

Mix mascarpone and caster sugar until creamy.

Whip your whipping cream in a cold bowl to have your crème Chantilly (you may want to place the bowl you are using inside another bowl with iced water, to have it cooler).

Add the Chantilly to the mascarpone mixture and stir it gently from the bottom up with a spatula.